84 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



this spot was a hole in the ice from which led 

 the blood-stained trail left by the bear when 

 dragging its prey towards the centre of the floe. 

 Studying these traces, it seemed to me that the 

 bear could have captured the seal in one of two 

 ways only. It might have clambered on to 

 the ice from the other side and surprised the 

 seal asleep near its hole. Provided things had 

 befallen in this way, both the animals struggling 

 violently must have fallen into the sea, where 

 the bear killed its prey and dragged it back 

 on to the ice. On the other hand, the bear 

 might have swum unobserved along the edge 

 of the floe until it came to the seal hole, where 

 it surprised and killed its victim, in which 

 case it had dragged the dead seal on to the ice 

 to eat at its ease. I think, considering the 

 habits of these two declared enemies, that the 

 latter version is the more probable, but, of 

 course, I cannot affirm this with any degree 

 of certainty. 



The soundings having been taken and my 

 investigation brought to a conclusion, I gave 

 instructions that the neighbouring floes should 

 be searched, in case the female should have been 

 accompanied either by a male or cubs. The 

 search produced nothing, however. We saw 

 only seals and seagulls waiting for us to depart 



